Canyon Grizl AL: Half the Price, Most of the Capability
Canyon's new aluminum Grizl AL starts at €1,300 with 54mm tire clearance and real adventure capability. Here's what matters—and the one compromise.
Canyon's new Grizl AL starts at €1,300 with a legitimate 1x drivetrain and tubeless-ready wheels. That's half what the carbon version costs. If you've been priced out of the adventure gravel category—or you just don't want to spend carbon money on a bike you're going to scratch up on singletrack—this matters.
The frame clears 54mm tires (or 29 x 2.1"), which is enough for rough forest roads and light bikepacking without the handling compromise of a full MTB. It's also 120g lighter than the outgoing aluminum model, though Canyon doesn't say where they cut the weight. The fork is full carbon with a straight 1 1/8" steerer, and there are six sets of cage mounts on the frame plus three-bolt Anything mounts on the fork legs. Fender eyelets front and rear. UDH derailleur hanger. T47 threaded BB. All the stuff that makes a bike last past the warranty period.
Here's the catch: the base Grizl 5 uses Shimano Cues, which is an 11-speed drivetrain with an 11-50T cassette. Cues works fine—it's durable and the range is there—but the shift feel isn't as crisp as GRX, and some riders report slower indexing under load. If you care about that, the €1,800 Grizl 6 gets you SRAM Apex XPLR with a tighter 11-44T range, or the €2,000 Grizl 7 ESC adds GRX 12-speed with a 10-51T cassette and Canyon's split-leaf VCLS seatpost. That seatpost actually works—I've ridden the older version on long washboard descents—but it also adds a failure point and you can't run a typical dropper if you want one later.
The geometry is stable but not slow: 72° head angle across all sizes, and they all use 700c wheels. No 650b option, which limits your ability to run truly fat tires if you want maximum cushion on rough tours. The Grizl 6 is the value pick if you're in the U.S.—it's the only model available here right now, and SRAM Apex is easier to service than Cues if you're far from a shop.
One thing I can't verify: Canyon claims the frame is 1,845g, but they don't specify the size. If that's a medium, it's competitive with most alloy gravel frames. If it's an XS, it's less impressive. Either way, this undercuts the cheapest carbon Grizl by €600, and you're getting a frame that won't catastrophically fail if you hit a rock wrong. That's the trade.
